Why You Should Have An Unplugged Ceremony

An unplugged ceremony can save your wedding pictures from catastrophe.

And, we’ve all seen the pictures.

You know the ones.

These are pictures where an amazing moment at a wedding is captured by the photographer you interviewed, hired, and trusted, but ruined by a guest.

Now, this guest doesn’t mean to ruin the shot. No. Of course not. But they did.

This guest ruined the shot by reaching into the aisle with their cell phone to capture said moment. They allowed the photographer to get a lovely shot of their arm, hand, phone, or even selfie stick, with the newlyweds in the background. All of these other items make their way into the photo, everything except for the stuff you actually care about (like you and your new spouse!).

Photos are also ruined by well meaning guests who step in front of a photographer, or have a device that hides their own face (of which you would also prefer to see in your photos).

Perhaps the most offensive of all is when the photographer captures an instant of pure romance and bliss (like the first kiss), and there is a guest in the background looking at their phone instead of couple.

You should have an unplugged ceremony to help optimize your wedding photos.

Devices ruin tons of potentially great photos. These are photos of brides walking down the aisle, or of first kisses. They may be photos of grooms waiting for their fiancés. The photos aren’t meant to show guests looking at their cells, trying to capture the shot. They aren’t supposed to show guest’s arms reaching into the aisle.

They are meant for moments of pronunciations and proclamations that are so special and intimate, they can only be made only better when all the people present are actually present.

For some great examples of what I’m describing, I highly suggest you check out this article with offenders that will seriously leave you shaking your head.

To avoid having your wedding photos ruined by devices, I suggest you look into what’s called an “Unplugged Ceremony”.

To recap, here are some MAJOR BENEFITS of Unplugged Ceremony’s:

Your guests will be present in the moment, which should greatly increase their enjoyment of your wedding overall

Less chance your guests will get in the way of your photographer
Higher chance that your photographer will take more pictures you will love
There is more attention put on the ceremony and on the people getting married

Most guests won’t have an issue complying with this request
You have more quality control over the photos that end up on social media

I’ll continue on to more information on our Unplugged Ceremony experience, and how you can make it happen for yourself.

WHY WE WANTED AN UNPLUGGED CEREMONY

Photos are ruined when guests are not looking at YOU. This is especially true when they are looking at their cells with a quick glace up. They are not in the moment.

When we got married it was very important for us to create a special experience for our guests. We wanted a them to have a feel for the venue, the ambiance, and the community around them. We also wanted our guest’s undivided attention and support as we entered our marriage.

For these very reasons, we decided to ask our guests to put away their phones and cameras for the duration of our ceremony.

Saying my vows with everyone’s attention.

Yes, we acknowledge that we may have missed some amazing iPhone photos, but in all honestly we weren’t expecting to see many of these photos anyway.

Sometimes cell phone photos are fantastic, but at this instance, one many of us have dreamt about since we were little. . . this is not the moment to rely on a cell phone if you’ve hired a professional.

This is a moment where you have to let go of the possibility that a guest will take THE SHOT and trust that your photographer will get it right. And that’s exactly what we did.

See everyone looking at the bride?

LETTING GUESTS KNOW:

There are so many ways to communicate your request for an unplugged wedding.

You can put it on your website, as well as elaborations why this is what you want. It’s on your invite (calling out “unplugged” in your wording). You can have your officiant make an announcement as the ceremony starts. This is a great article with ideas on signage and wording.

None of these ways are difficult or costly to make happen.

So how did we communicate to our guests that we didn’t want them to use their cells or phones at all during the ceremony?

Well, we put it on our website. Also, our officiant reminded people and we made a huge sign and put it right by the door, when guests walked into the ceremony.

The sign read:

Welcome to Our Unplugged Ceremony

We invite you to be Fully Present with us during our ceremony

Please turn off all Cell Phones and Cameras

Thank you

The Bride and Groom

This sign was not fancy.

In fact, I hand-created it. But it did the trick.

OUR GUEST RESPONSE

As seen in the above photos, not one guest broke this request.

Everyone was completely there with us, watching and listening to what we were saying to each other, not missing a moment of humor or sentiment. Our photographer didn’t have to compete with arms or devices in his way. He was able to perfectly capture the most special moments of our lives (at that point).

Many, many guests told me afterwards that our ceremony was one of the most intimate and romantic weddings they had ever been to. Yes, it might have been the fact that it was indoors. And there were wine barrels and candles. Or that the rows were small and the room didn’t feel expansive.

But, I like to think that the device-free request helped everyone to truly enjoy themselves without the pressure of taking a picture to be stored forever on a phone. And for about 25 minutes, they were completely present.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

We honestly had no regrets about having an Unplugged Ceremony, and as you can tell, I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking it might be right for them.

More From Hummingbird Wedding Advice:

What To Do With Your Wedding Dress After The Wedding

11 Things Brides & Grooms Forget To Do The Morning Of Their Wedding

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